Harmonica Tablature
The harmonica tablature was basically a one-to-one mapping of the notes to the corresponding hole and, thus, is a type of numbered musical notation. For each note, it will indicate the number of the hole to play, direction of breathing (in or out), and even bending (usually for diatonic) or "slide-in" (usually for chromatic)
One method of indicating direction of breath is by using arrows; another is by using either a "+" or "-" sign, or "i" (for inhale) and "e" (for exhale). Bending is shown with a bent arrow with the direction of breath, or by a circle around the note, or even a simple line next to the breath indicator. Additional lines and/or circles may be used to indicate how much to bend.
For example, on a "C" diatonic instrument:
Unbent Bent lv1 Bent lv2 Bent lv3 3i (B) 3i| (Bb) 3i|| (A) 3i||| (G#)To indicate button-press on a chromatic instrument, a similar indication to first-level bending may be used.
The breath indicator may be placed right next to the hole number, or below the number. The same is true for bending or button-press indicators.
To indicate the beat, in the arrow system the length of the arrow may be varied. However, the more popular method is to use a slightly simplified rhythm-symbol notation, such as "o" for a semibreve, // for a minim, "/" for a crotchet, "." for quavers, and place them above the characters, while spacing them accordingly.
For chords, the numbers to play are shown, so, for example: a C major (CEG) chord (on a C diatonic instrument): 456e However, they may simplify it, especially when playing blues. For chords, it was common to just play three or two holes instead (sometimes even just one), especially when the instrument is not of the same key. For example, in the blues progression in G (G G G G7 C C G G D7 D7 G G) it is common to use a C diatonic instrument, and notate the following:
- G chord (G-B-D): 34i (BD)
- G7 chord (G-B–D-F): 45i (DF).
- D7 chord (D-F♯-A-C): 4i (D) or 4e (C)
There are many harmonica tablature systems in use. The easiest tablature system works like this.
Diatonic Harmonica tablature
2 = blow the 2 hole -2 = draw the 2 hole -2' = draw the 2 hole with a half bend -2" = draw the 2 hole with a full bendchords are shown by grouping notes with parentheses
(2 3) = blow the 2 hole and the 3 hole at the same time
Chromatic Harmonica tablature
2 = blow the 2 hole -2 = draw the 2 hole <2 = blow the 2 hole with the button in <-2 = draw the 2 hole with the button inHarmonica tablature is usually lined up with lyrics to show the tune and the timing and usually tells one the key of the harmonica for which the song is tabbed.
Here is an example of harmonica tablature:
"Mack the Knife" C Diatonic
5 6 -6 -6 5 6 -6 -6 Oh the shark has pretty teeth, dear -4 -5 -6 -6 -4 -5 -6 And he shows them pearly white 6 -7 -8 7 -7 -6 7 -4 Just a jack knife has MacHeath, dear 5 -5 7 -4 7 -7 -6 And he keeps it out of sightRead more about this topic: Tablature